We started at the wee hours in the morning to begin our trip to the much spoken about Lepakshi. We along with our vehicles were all pumped up to begin the 140 km long journey from Bangalore to Lepakshi.
Throughout the journey one remains mesmerized by the view the journey has to offer, it is filled with picturesque locations where the icing to the mountains are clouds, the roads felt smooth like butter and clouds felt like cotton candy.
With few halts in between to gulp in the scenic view and to fill our tummy with awesome parathas we at last reached Lepakshi. It took us about 3 hours along with the breaks to reach our destination.
The lore goes that when Lord Rama, met the dying bird Jatayu here, he helped him attain Moksha by saying the words “Le Pakshi”, which in Telugu means “rise bird”. Hence, the village got its name Lepakshi!
The first structure you will encounter is that of the spectacular Nandi, located almost a mile before the main temple. At 27ft in length and 15ft in height, it is a colossal structure, reputedly India’s biggest monolithic Nandi. Besides the record size, the perfectly proportioned body, finely-carved ornaments, and smooth contours add to its grandeur and make it a popular photo-option with visitors.
The main highlight of Lepakshi is the hanging tower, well we passed a dupatta (Cloth) below the tower and it passed with ease from one end to other. There was a sense of awe in the faces of the visitors who saw the whole thing. This is the pillar which does not rest on the ground entirely. There are about 70 pillars at this fabulous 16th-century temple of stone in Vijayanagar style, but this one is the best known and a tribute to the engineering genius of ancient and medieval India’s temple builders.
The whole temple feels like a marvel and one would be aghast looking at the mammoth structure and the beautifully hewed pillars.
The temple’s main deity is Veerabhadra, the fiery god created by Shiva in his rage after the Daksha Yagna and the immolation of Parvathi.
We reached back to our homes around 4PM, well we owe the delay to the unanticipated rains. On the way back you if you want to grab a quick bite you would either have to stop near Nandi hills or near Hannur. We were lucky to have not caught the sun and the climate remained cloudy and pleasant throughout the journey.
While in Bangalore, if you love road trips and can appreciate great architecture then a trip to Lepakshi is inevitable.